NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wauconda, IL
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Wauconda, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 100 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 100
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
35 deaths in all
What the records show for Wauconda
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Wauconda; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 28 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Wauconda. The highest rating among the 100 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 28, 1972, came within 14 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 100, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 43 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 22. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 78% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Wauconda. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 163 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Wauconda has more hail reports within 10 miles than 71% of the 548 Illinois cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Wauconda
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Wauconda: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Wauconda
By decade
- 2020s30
- 2010s5
- 2000s8(1 EF3+)
- 1990s11
- 1980s2
- 1970s19(1 EF3+)
- 1960s16(4 EF3+)
- 1950s9
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 16 mi | 25.5 mi | 24 / 450 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 2 mi | 9.1 mi | 6 / 75 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 4 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 100 |
| Sep 28, 1972 | F4 | 14 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 22 mi | 10.78 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Jul 19, 1963 | F3 | 22 mi | 10.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F2 | 24 mi | 15.1 mi | 2 / 66 |
| Jun 9, 1966 | F2 | 16 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 9 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| May 18, 1997 | F2 | 12 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | F2 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 16, 1980 | F2 | 22 mi | 1.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 100, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wauconda
The Storm Prediction Center has 163 hail reports within 10 miles of Wauconda since 1975, made on 74 separate days. Of these, 95 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 17, 2003. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. April has the most reports, 43.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wauconda
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Mundelein 4 WSW, IL, 3 miles east of Wauconda at 840 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 29°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 38.6 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 140 nights a year. Snowfall averages 43.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 38.6 inches is more than at 48 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (33%). Island Lake, 3 miles west, has its own station (Mc Henry -Wg Stratton L&D, IL): 37.0 inches a year, 1.6 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | 14 | 1.8 | 4 | 11.0 |
| Feb | 33 | 16 | 1.9 | 5 | 12.8 |
| Mar | 44 | 26 | 2.5 | 6 | 5.3 |
| Apr | 57 | 36 | 4.0 | 8 | 1.8 |
| May | 68 | 47 | 4.6 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 58 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 62 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 61 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 53 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 42 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 47 | 30 | 2.5 | 5 | 2.5 |
| Dec | 34 | 20 | 2.1 | 5 | 9.7 |
| Year | 57 | 39 | 38.6 | 73 | 43.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Mundelein 4 WSW, IL (840 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Wauconda
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 307 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wauconda: 238 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 floods, 19 heavy rain events, 16 flash floods and 15 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $28.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 84 mph, on June 11, 2001. June has had the most flash floods, 9 of 16. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 263 have had fewer than Wauconda.
May 17, 1999: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Wauconda — 7 injured.
July 21, 1998: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Wauconda — 3 injured.
September 20, 2018: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Wauconda — 3 injured.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Wauconda's ZIP code 60084 have filed 54 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $311,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 17% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 320 Illinois cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 171 have fewer than Wauconda.
Lake County, which includes Wauconda, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 snowstorms, 4 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lake County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $266.5 million a year, the 4th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $155.5 million (58%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Wauconda
- Island Lake, IL3 mi
- Cary, IL6 mi
- Fox River Grove, IL6 mi
- Lake Zurich, IL6 mi
- Mundelein, IL7 mi
- Barrington, IL7 mi
- Round Lake Beach, IL8 mi
- Ingleside, IL8 mi
- Grayslake, IL8 mi
- Vernon Hills, IL9 mi
- Crystal Lake, IL10 mi
- Libertyville, IL10 mi
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